Laughter yoga was created about 20 years ago in India by Dr. Madan Kataria, who studied the benefits of laughter to the mind and body. The movement — simulated laughter is combined with breathing and stretching exercises — later expanded to more than 65 countries.

"It’s weird, but it’s a lot of fun," Ruffolo said. "If you have a fake laugh, a lot of times it will turn into a real laugh. And your body doesn’t know the difference between a fake laugh and real laugh."

The effect is the same, and benefits are said to range from calming the mind to losing a few calories.

"I come here at least twice a week and this was the most fun I’ve ever had, believe it or not, in this building. And I have a really good time when I’m here," said Connie Hendries, who tried the class for the first time with her great-grandson Coltyn DeBauch. "I like that everybody was free and they were doing physical fitness things without even knowing it."

Manitowoc resident Nanette Disch, who's been going to the Y regularly for the last 26 years, started attending Ruffolo's classes as soon as they began.

"I try a lot of new classes. I had no idea what it was going to be like," she said. "I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone is happy and you laugh and just forget about the world around you."

Ruffolo says laughter yoga is good for every age and she's even tried it with high school students, who were wary of the idea until pretending to run through a sprinkler like they did as kids.

"We dwell on bad things that are happening. We don’t let it go," she said. "The main thing is to have fun, let go and just be a child again."

And if people think the class is goofy, Ruffolo says that's OK because, well, it's supposed to be.

"You feel alive when you're done, just good and full of energy," she said.